Hertog Jan Uni Case

The challenge: Hertog Jan's campaign "Uit Liefde voor Bier" had built a strong emotional platform around craftsmanship and mastery. The question was how to extend it without fully reinventing the brand, but by deepening the connection with the people who already loved it most. The approach: Using the Core/Crust/Crowd model, we identified the untapped potential in Hertog Jan's most passionate segment: the beer connoisseurs. Rather than building from scratch, we leveraged what already existed, the Genootschap café network, and transformed it from a passive distribution channel into an active community hub. Connected with a revived app enabling direct messaging, community discussions and voting on future product lines, the strategy gave the core audience a real role in shaping the brand. The centrepiece: a co-creation event series where connoisseurs and brand representatives together designed a new Grand Prestige edition — the Hokkaido Series, barrel-aged in Japanese Mizunara oak. Fans became ambassadors. Heritage became a living thing. The result: Won the competition against all other teams in the Brand Management course. The Hokkaido Series concept was praised as a concrete, executable brand extension rooted in Hertog Jan's existing heritage